Ranking The Arkham Games

With Batman Arkham Knight comes the end of Rocksteady’s epic trilogy. This also means that we can now rank each installment and debate which is the greatest Batman experience! While some would disagree with including it, I’m going to take Arkham Origins into account as well, even though it’s not a Rocksteady game. So here’s my SPOILER FREE ranking of the Batman Arkham games from worst to best.

4. Arkham Origins

I tried my best to like Arkham Origins. It has the great combat that we expect from the series. It has an interesting story that delves into the psyche of some of Batman’s greatest villains. It even has some of the best boss fights in the whole series. Unfortunately the desolate setting that was Gotham bored me, and there was a lack of detail that is always abundant in Rocksteady’s work. This is the only Arkham game that I doubt I will ever return to for another play through. It just didn’t work for me. However, the Deathstroke boss fight will always have a place in my heart!

3. Arkham Knight

That’s right. My friends seem surprised when I say this, but Arkham Knight failed to overcome the greatness of its predecessors. It’s a fun game—the Batmobile is great and it’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, but the game lacks the magic that Asylum and City have. I would still recommend it to anyone who played Asylum and City though, as it’s a great end to the trilogy, and the Batmobile alone is reason enough to give it a play. If you want to read more about my thoughts on Arkham Knight, you can check out my review here.

2. Arkham Asylum

Arkham Asylum may be the first in the series, but it built one heck of a foundation for the games that followed. The combat and stealth mechanics were mind-blowing at the time and they’re still an absolute blast to pick up and play. It was also the first game in years that made us realize that it’s still possible to have an awesome superhero game.

1. Arkham City

This is easily my number one pick. Not only are the mechanics from Asylum fine-tuned in the second instalment, but everything is incredibly balanced and fluid, and it has an interesting story with surprising twists. I’ve played through City multiple times, and it’s always my go-to when I want to be the Batman. It’s also amazing how everything from Asylum was taken a step further, making the mechanics feel fresh and new.

I’ve not got around to playing Knight yet, so my top three would be
3. Origins
2. City
1. Asylum
Whilst Asylum wasn’t quite as fine tuned as City, or as open, I feel like that game has the most “magic” – despite City being a better game, I think that I enjoyed Asylum more for the novelty and workmanship at the time (plus I wasn’t expecting much from it, and was more than pleasantly surprised, which set the bar higher for City).

I’ve not got around to playing Knight yet, so my top three would be
3. Origins
2. City
1. Asylum
Whilst Asylum wasn’t quite as fine tuned as City, or as open, I feel like that game has the most “magic” – despite City being a better game, I think that I enjoyed Asylum more for the novelty and workmanship at the time (plus I wasn’t expecting much from it, and was more than pleasantly surprised, which set the bar higher for City).

I can definitely see where you’re coming from. Asylum definitely has a “wow” factor that subsequent games of the series have failed to beat. It’s an amazing game.

Soda Popinski

Nice read, very fair/agreeable order. However my personal favorite (only mid way through AK now though) is definitely Asylum. The original was Metroidvania done proper in 3D on Batman steroids, quite literally blew me away at the time. Can’t wait to experience it again with the Arkham Asylum/City Remaster collection.

I love that you used the term “Batman steroids”… I may have to use it in the future. What do you think of Knight so far?

Soda Popinski

lol….it was man, Asylum was so perfect and mind blowing at the time, they just nailed it out the gate in so many ways with that game.

I’m REALLY digging Knight so far, just got done playing it tonight for last 3 hours actually, still pretty early on just got to Ace Chemical plant and saw AK for the first time, but I’m taking my time enjoying the ride & doing all the side stuff I can. Man, I can hardly stop playing and it really feels great solid true next gen to me…..finally.

Nice read, very fair/agreeable order. However my personal favorite (only mid way through AK now though) is definitely Asylum. The original was Metroidvania done proper in 3D on Batman steroids, quite literally blew me away at the time. Can’t wait to experience it again with the Arkham Asylum/City Remaster collection.

I love that you used the term “Batman steroids”… I may have to use it in the future. What do you think of Knight so far?

Soda Popinski

lol….it was man, Asylum was so perfect and mind blowing at the time, they just nailed it out the gate in so many ways with that game.

I’m REALLY digging Knight so far, just got done playing it tonight for last 3 hours actually, still pretty early on just got to Ace Chemical plant and saw AK for the first time, but I’m taking my time enjoying the ride & doing all the side stuff I can. Man, I can hardly stop playing and it really feels great solid true next gen to me…..finally.

I can’t fairly rate the four games because I haven’t played Arkham Knight. But I really wanted to give my input on the three Batman: Arkham games.
1. I would put Arkham City ahead of Arkham Asylum, only because the boss battles get repetitive once you figure out the patterns. The Mr. Freeze fight is the best boss battle so far, with Deathstroke in Arkham Origins a very close second. And Arkham City has so many of the popular Batman rogues involved that it’s just fun. The surprise Solomon Grundy insertion was just cool, with that edge of mysticism.
2. Arkham Asylum – It’s the original, so of couse the developers would try to outdo themselves on later installments. But the story being in the Asylum and no where else makes it that much more suspenseful; the Killer Croc lair battle, Poison Ivy, crawling around through the caves make it feel like a horror movie a lot of the times, and the introduction of the riddles are a wonderfully intriguing twist. The boss battles are repetitive, but which games doesn’t have repetitive boss battles? I thought the Joker fight at the end was a bit anticlimactic, but the Joker was the antagonist throughout the entire story, and the mystique with him is his ability to throw insurmountable obstacles at Batman, so I can go along with the ending.
3. Arkham Origins – It’s a great video game, but not a great Batman game. The setting of Gotham City seemed very drab, and it didn’t have a “city” feel to it at all. Everything was really dreary, and black and blue (literally). I also felt like the characters weren’t colorful enough. One of the great things about Batman battling the Joker or any of his rogues gallery is the contrast in colors on the page. But Joker wore a dark purple outfit, Mad Hatter had a dark green, and it made everything kind of flat for me. But I loved the game. Just not as much as Asylum and City. The question marks being replaced by data packs sucked, and I missed the riddles.

Jon-Charles Cordery

I can’t fairly rate the four games because I haven’t played Arkham Knight. But I really wanted to give my input on the three Batman: Arkham games.
1. I would put Arkham City ahead of Arkham Asylum, only because the boss battles get repetitive once you figure out the patterns. The Mr. Freeze fight is the best boss battle so far, with Deathstroke in Arkham Origins a very close second. And Arkham City has so many of the popular Batman rogues involved that it’s just fun. The surprise Solomon Grundy insertion was just cool, with that edge of mysticism.
2. Arkham Asylum – It’s the original, so of couse the developers would try to outdo themselves on later installments. But the story being in the Asylum and no where else makes it that much more suspenseful; the Killer Croc lair battle, Poison Ivy, crawling around through the caves make it feel like a horror movie a lot of the times, and the introduction of the riddles are a wonderfully intriguing twist. The boss battles are repetitive, but which games doesn’t have repetitive boss battles? I thought the Joker fight at the end was a bit anticlimactic, but the Joker was the antagonist throughout the entire story, and the mystique with him is his ability to throw insurmountable obstacles at Batman, so I can go along with the ending.
3. Arkham Origins – It’s a great video game, but not a great Batman game. The setting of Gotham City seemed very drab, and it didn’t have a “city” feel to it at all. Everything was really dreary, and black and blue (literally). I also felt like the characters weren’t colorful enough. One of the great things about Batman battling the Joker or any of his rogues gallery is the contrast in colors on the page. But Joker wore a dark purple outfit, Mad Hatter had a dark green, and it made everything kind of flat for me. But I loved the game. Just not as much as Asylum and City. The question marks being replaced by data packs sucked, and I missed the riddles.